Apparatus for manipulating brakes on railway-cars.



G. H. GILMAN.

APPARATUS FOR MANIPULATING BRAKES 0N RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 16. 1914.

1,1 59,58 1. Patented Nov. 9, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l- W! TNESSES CDLUMHXA PLANOCIRAPH CO.,WASHINGTON, n, c.

G. H. GILMAN.

APPARATUS FOR MANIPULATING BRAKES 0N RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 16. 1914.

Patented Nov. 9, 1915.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

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ATTO/PNE Y5 G. H. GlLMAN. APPARATUS FOR MANIPULATING BRAKES ON RAILWAY CARS. APPLICATION FILED ocr.1e,1914.

1,159,581. I Patented Nov. 9, 1915.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3- 1 V5 TOR.

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GEORGE H. GILMAN, OF ST. PAUL, .MINNESOTA.

Application filed October 16, 1914.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Gnoner. H. GrLMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of llllinnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Manipulating Brakes on Railway-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for manipulating brakes on railway cars, and has for its principal object to provide a simple, inexpensive and compact form of apparatus -for setting and releasing the brakes of a railway car.

The mechanism most frequently employed for operating by hand the brakes of a railway car comprises a brake staii' provided at the upper end with a hand wheel, or otheimeans for revolving the same, the chain attached to the pull rod operating the brake beams being wound on the other end of the staii', or on a drum thereon. The brake staff is held in the position setting the brakes ordinarily by means of a ratchet and dog.

My invention provides in mechanism of this type means for revolving the brake staff and for holding it in the set position of the brakes which allows the brakes to be gradually released instead of suddenly and violently, and by means of which the power 7 is applied gradually and evenly to the brake staff in setting the brakes; whereby the labor of the trainmen is lessened and the danger due to the possibility of breakage of the apparatus is minimized.

The invention provides further, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, a mechanism for revolving the brake staff to apply the brakes to the wheels which does not require any specific device for holding r the brakes in their set position, the apparatus remaining in any position to which it may be set until positively moved therefrom by a reverse movement of the hand operated member.

The invention has for further objects suchother new and improved constructions, arrangements and devices relating to mechanism for operating the brakes of railway cars as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention is illustrated, in certain preferred embodiments, in the accompanying drawings wherein- Figure 1 is a fragmentary end elevation of a gondola car shown as fitted with the Specification of LetterslPatent.

Patented Nov. 9, 1915.

Serial No. scenes.

brake controlling apparatus of my invention. Fig. '2 is :a vertical sectional View through the apparatus in a plane parallel to the end of the car. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan on line 33 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a view, in perspective, of the casting, fixed to the end of the car, on which the movable parts of the apparatus are mounted. F 5 is a fragmentary view, in perspective, of the brake staff. Fig. 6 is a similar view of the reciprocating element for revolving the brake staff. Fig. 7 is a fragmentary end elevation of a railway car showing, partly in section, a modified construction. Fig. 8 is a sectional plan taken .on line 88 of Fig. 7, and Fig. 9 is a sectional view on line 99 of Fig. 8.

Like characters of reference designate like parts in the several iigures of the drawings.

The brake manipulating apparatus of my invention is shown as applied to a gondola car, the body of which is designated 10. The apparatus might readily be applied, with certain obvious modifications, to freight cars of other types and also to passenger cars.

11 is a brake stafi revolubly mounted in bearings provided by the usual platform 12 and bracket 13. The chain 14, attached to the pull rod 15, which operates upon the brake beams through the usual levers (not shown), may be attached directly to and wound upon the end of the brake staff 11 or, as shown in the drawings, the brake stall may be provided at its lower end with a drum 16 on which the chain is wound.

17 is a tubular actuating member surrounding the upper end of the brake staff and formed internally with the double threading 18 engaged by the spiral projections or threads 19 on the upper end oi the stair". The member 17 is formed with a slide 20 which fits into a guideway 21 formed on a casting 22 which is secured to the end'of the car. The casting 22 is provided 'with brackets 23, 24, formed with bearings between which is arranged a worm gear 25' having a shaft 26 provided at its upper end with a hand wheel or other suitable means for revolving it. The worm wheel 25 engages with a worm rack 28 on the actuating member 17.

A guard 22* is prei'erablyprovided for the worm gear '25 and that part of the rack 28 with which the gear is meshed.

- brakes. The power is applied to the brake staff gradually and the movement of the parts of the apparatus during the release of the brakes is'gradual instead of being sudden and violent as is the case when the ordinary brake staff is released by kicking the dog out of its ratchet. The forces exerted in setting the brakes are so distributed that there is little danger of any part of the apparatus breaking. This eliminates a frequentcause of acidents to trainmen in the switching of cars. The fact that the brakes are released by a gradual turning of the hand wheel, instead of by the sudden and violent movement which takes place when the dog is kicked out of engagement with the ratchet wheel of the ordinary brake staff, eliminates another cause of injury to trainmen in the manipulation of the brakes.

It will be seen that a car having the usual hand operated brake staff can be equipped with the improvement above described by changes and substitution of parts which may be easily made at a small cost. For the original brake staff is substituted one provided at its upper end with threads or projections adapted to be engaged by the threading of the actuating member 17. The pull rod and chain of the original installation are retained. In this connection it is noted that while the chain is claimed as such in the claims appended hereto I intend to include by the term any suitable flexible member capable of being wound upon the brake staff or its drum.

In lligs. 7 to 9 inclusive, I have shown a modified construction in which a lever instead of a worm shaft is employed for raising the actuating element by means of which the brake staff is revolved. The brake staff 11 may be the same in constructionas that previously described. The actuating element 29 is formed with a slide 30 which fits secured to the end of'the car 33. The ac- V tuating element 29, instead of being formed with a worm rack, is provided with teeth 3 1, the under surfaces of which are horizontal and the upper surfaces formed with a down slant. 35 is an operating lever pivoted at its inner end to a casting 36 hinged to a curved bracket 37 on the casting 32 by menas a pointed nose 39 adapted to engage with i rocked on the bolt 11 as a fulcru nand by engaging with the teeth at raises the actuating element 29. The slotted connection between the lever and the casting 36 permits the lever to be withdrawn from engagement with the teeth in raising the lever from the horizontal position.

Arranged in a housing 42 in the lower part of. the casting 36 is a detent 43 adapted to engage the teeth 34: and provided with a stem 4.4 which extends through the back of the housing. A spiral spring l5 surrounds the stem 4-1. WVhen the lever 35 and casting 36 are in the position indicated by the full lines in Fig. 8 the actuating element 29 may be raised by operation of the lever, thereby revolving the brake staff 11 so as to set the brakes. To release the brakes the lever 35 and casting 36 are given a pivotal movement horizontally, on pintle 38 as an axis, to the position indicatedbythe dotted lines in Fig. 8. This movement withdraws the detent from the teeth 34, permitting a rela tive movement between the actuating element and the brake staff which allows the brake shoes to be moved away from the wheels. r 7

While I have described my invention as embodied in certain preferred constructions, it will be obvious that modification might be devised without departure from the principles of the invention. Therefore I do not wish tobe understood as limiting the inven} tion to the exact constructions, arrangements and devices shown except so far asso limited by the express language of the claims. 1

I claim: V V

1. The combinationwith a car provided with brakes and apparatus for setting the same comprising a chain, of a brake staff on one end of which said chain is adapted to be wound, means for revolubly supporting the brake staff on the car and holding the same against longitudinal movement, an actuating element movable longitudinally of the brake staff, having a threaded engagement therewith and formed with a series of teeth 7 arranged longitudinally thereof, a shaft parallel to the brake stafi' revolubly mount- I ed on the car, held against endwise movement and provided with a hand operated member, and a worm on said shaft engaged with the teeth on said actuating element.

2. The combination with a car provided the brake staff on the car and holding the of a pintle 38. The lever 35 terminates in same against longitudinal movement, an actuating element movable longitudinally of the brake stafi, having a threaded engage ment therewith and formed with a series of teeth arranged longitudinally thereof, a shaft parallel to the brake staff revolubly mounted on the car, held against endwise movement and provided with a hand operated member, and means operated by revolving said shaft for imparting longitudinal movement to said actuating member.

3. The combination with a car provided with brakes and apparatus for setting the same comprising a chain, of a brake staff on one end of which said chain is adapted to be wound, means for revolubly supporting the brake staif on the car and holding the same against longitudinal movement, anaetuating element movable longitudinally of the brake staff, having a threaded engagement therewith and formed with a series of teeth arranged longitudinally thereof, and means engaging said teeth for imparting longitudinal movement to said actuating element.

4. The combination with a car provided with brakes and apparatus for setting the same comprising a chain, of a brake staff on one end of which said chain is adapted to be wound, means for revolubly supporting the brake staff on the car and holding the same against longitudinal movement, an actuating element movable longitudinally of the brake staff and having a threaded engagement therewith, and means for imparting longitudinal movement to said actuating element.

5. The combination with a car provided with brakes and apparatus for setting the same comprising a chain, of a brake stafi on one end of which said chain is adapted to be wound, means for revolubly supporting the brake staff on the car and holding the same against longitudinal movement, an actuating element extending over the end of the brake staff, having a threaded engagement therewith and provided with a slide and a series of longitudinally arranged teeth, a guide way on the car to receive said slide, a shaft parallel tothe brake staff, revolubly mounted on the car, held against endwise movement and provided with a hand operating member, and a worm on said shaft engaged with the teeth on said actuating element.

6. In apparatus for operating the brakes on a railway car, the combination with a casting formed with a channeled guideway and with a pair of brackets spaced apart, of a worm gear revolubly mounted between said brackets having a shaft provided with a hand wheel, an actuating element formed with a slide fitted into said guideway and with a worm rack engaged by said worm gear, said actuating element having athreaded bore, and a brake stafl, the upper end of which extends into the threaded bore of said actuating element and is provided with threads engaging with the threading of said actuating element.

GEORGE H. GILMAN.

- Witnesses:

FLORENCE J oHNsoN, HENRY M. ROBERTSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. i 

